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Confessions of an overseas intern in London: Part 1 – Soho

 Hot chocolate and a collection of very original books

28.06.17

by Sanka Pityana

So, I had met my cousin for lunch at Piccadilly Circus and we went to a really nice sushi place called Yoobi and ate 16 pieces of maki each (which was amazing!) and then we had decided to go for coffee. Again, amazing coffee -SAID dal 1923 - she really knows all the good places - and this shop wasn’t that big but I had a really nice soy cappuccino that had dripping dark, milk and white chocolate that was generally just fantastic and really sweet but, as this was on voting day, she had to leave after coffee to vote which left me alone in Soho.

This would be all good and well if I knew my way around but seeing as I didn’t, I decided to explore… I walked her to the station and then went back to the junction with the vintage store on the corner and turned right. BIG mistake… Much to my surprise, the street was lined with sex shops (should I call them adult shops?) Anyway, I just kept walking because maybe there would be a variation in shops right? Wrong. I did walk down until I saw a sign with original books with ‘original’ in large letters so I headed towards the sign to seek comfort in books, crossing the road at a trot to avoid the oncoming car, only to find that the books were of porn… NOT impressed… Feeling very embarrassed at making such a fuss to cross the road, I decided I might pop into the gay shop nearby, also finding that with porn and sex toys. At any rate, all I knew was that I had to keep walking to get away, however, despite having turned yet another corner, there were more adult shops.

Needless to say, I will be avoiding those particular streets (especially after dark) and I will not be trusting a sign that says ‘original books’ unless someone trusted has recommended the shop.